Support means for steel studs and the like



May 26, 1964 M. H. BECKNER ETAL 3,134,466

SUPPRT MEANS FOR STEEL STUDS AND THE LIKE Filed June 16, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 26, 1964 M. H. BECKNER ETAL. 3,134,465

SUPPORT MEANS FOR STEEL STUDS AND THE LIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 16, 1961 May 26, 1964 M. H. BECKNER ETAL 3,134,466

SUPPORT MEANS FOR STEEL STUDS AND THE LIKE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 16, 1961 2. M I o MQW 1MM? MB United States Patent G 3,34,466 SUPPRT Ft/EANS STEEL STU Alb-ll) LiKE Marshall H. Rechner and Burton E. Soit, 5r., Washington,

Pa., assignors to Tri-State Engineering Company, Washington, Fa., a corporation oi' Maryland Filed .lune i6, 1556i, Eier. No, M7333 5 Claims. (Ci. E39-d) This invention relates to budding constructions of the type utilizing metallic studs, and more particularly to a new and improved construction for the runners which support the metallic studs at the tops and bottoms thereof.

Although not limited thereto, the present invention is particularly adapted for use in the construction of nonload bearing partitions such as those used in oliices and other similar locations Where the partitions must be moved from time to time to suit changing needs. lt has ee customary in the erection of such partitions to utilize metallic studs which are usually fabricated from two pairs of longitudinally-extending wire strands to which there has been welded a transversely-extending wire web portion. The studs are attached at the top and bottom to ceiling and floor channels or runners, respectively; and the partition is completed by securing lath and plaster or plasterbroad to each face of the studs aligned along the ceiling and door runners.

Although partitions of the type described above can usually be erected more efficiently than those employing wooden studding, a considerable amount of time and effort has heretofore been required to attach the tops and bottoms of the wire studs to the ceiling and floor runners. That is, sheet metal shoes or whes were customarily used for attachment of the stud ends to the runners, and the attachments required a considerable expenditure of labor in either crimping the sheet metal shoes around the studs or wiring the assembly together, or both.

As a primary object, the present invention seeks to provide a new and improved means for securing the tops and bottoms of metallic studs to the ceiling and iioor, respectively, of a building.

More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a runner of the type described which will automatically secure and lock the top and bottom of a metallic stud in place without requiring any special tools and parts such as the crimping tool and/ or wire required in previous constructions. As will be seen, the stud may be merely rotated into locked position without the expenditure of any time and eort in securing the studs to the runners.

till another object of the invention is to provide a building wall construction which olfers improved sound insulating properties.

In accordance with the invention, each of the runners is fabricated from a pair of parallel wire strands which are supported in spaced relationship by means of U- shaped wire brackets extending along the length of the runners. These brackets, in turn, are stapled or otherwise securely fastened to the ceiling and floor. The parallel wire strands are spaced apart in an amount less than the width of the studs; and at equally spaced intervals along the strands are detents which, on either side of the runner, form a socket for the reception of a stud. By aligning the sockets thus formed in the top and bottom runners, the studs may be easily fitted into the sockets by placing one edge of the stud in the detents on one side of the runners and applying a slight rotational force to the stud to spring the strands on the other side of the runners outwardly until the stud snaps into the detents on said other side. Once in the socket, the studs are fixed in position but may be removed by again rotating them about their longitudinal axes.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, successive sockets formed by the detents on either side of the runners may be odset one with respect to the other along the length of the runner. in this manner, successive studs will also be offset such that the wallboard on one side of the partition may be connected to every other stud on one side thereof, while the wallboard on the other side of the partition may be connected to the remaining studs. In this manner, the studs will not extend throughout the width of the partition, such that the one partition wall will be entirely separated from the other to provide exceptionally good sound insulating characteristics.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specilication, and in which:

FiGURl-E l is a perspective View of a building wall partition employing metallic studs and incorporating the new and improved runners of the present invention;

FlG. 2 is a perspective view of the bottom runner of the invention having metallic studs attached thereto;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the top runner of the invention having metallic studs attached thereto;

PEG. 4 is an elevational view taken along a cross section of a building wall and illustrating the runners, the metallic studs and the manner in which lath or wallboard may be attached to the studs;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the lowerrrunner of the invention, showing the manner in which the metallic studs may be snapped into position within the sockets formed by the detents on either side of the runner;

FiG. 6 is an elevational or side view of an embodiment of the invention in which the lower supporting strands for the runner are supported above the door level, or below the ceiling level, as the case may be;

FiG. 7 is a side or elevational View of another embodiment of the invention where the supporting strands engage the oor or ceiling as the case may be; and

FiG. 8 is a top view of an embodiment of the invention wherein successive sockets for the studs are olset one with respect to the other to completely separate one side of the building partition from the other.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. l, 2, 3 and 4, the building construction shown includes an upper runner it) secured to the ceiling 12 and a lower runner i4 parallel to the runner l@ and secured to the iloor 16. Extending between the runners 1li and i4 are metallic studs 13, each of which comprises four chord wires Z arranged in pairs in spaced parallel relationship. rl`he chord wires of each pair are slightly spaced apart in an amount equal to the thickness of a sinuous web wire 22 so that the web wire extends between the chord wires and is secured thereto by spot welds 24 at each apex of the wire.

The construction of the bottom runner 14 is possibly best shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 and comprises a pair of lower parallel strands 26 and 28 which are spot Welded to the inside corners of a plurality of spaced U-shaped wire members 3h. Above tl e parallel wire strands 26 and 2S are a second pair of parallel strands 32 and 34 spot welded to the tops or free ends of the U-shaped wire members Sil as at 36. Formed along the length of the parallel vvire strands 3?, and 34 are notches or detents 38,

each of which is arranged oppositely to a cooperating L is equal to or slightly larger than the width of each stud. Thus, in order to place the studs in the sockets formed by detents 38, one edge of the stud will be initially inserted into the detent 33 in strand 32 on one side of the runner, for example, with the plane of the stud at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the runner as indicated by the dotted outline position of FIG. 5. Thereafter, the stud may be rotated in the direction of the arrow of FIG. 5 until it engages the strand 34 on the other side of the runner. A slight rotational torque on the stud will then cause the strand 34 to spring outwardly to permit the other side of the stud to snap into the detent 3S on strand 34, whereupon the strand will spring inwardly to lock the stud in place. If it is desired to remove the stud, a slight rotational torque may be applied thereto, whereupon the foregoing process is reversed.

In FIG. 3, it will be noted that the upper runner itl is similar in construction to the lower runner 14 and comprises a pair of parallel Wire strands 46 and 42 which are spot welded to the inside corners of U-shaped wire members 44. Spot welded to the lower ends of U-shaped members 44 are parallel wire strands 46 and 48 each of which has detents 50 formed therein at intervals which are equall in length to the intervals between the detents 3S in the lower runner 14. Thus, by aligning one set of detents 5l) in the upper runner with a corresponding set of detents 38 in the lower runner, all detents along the length of the runners will be aligned, and when the studs are snapped into position they will lie in upright or Vertical planes.

` It will be noted that whereas the detents 38 and 5G are spaced along the runners 16 and i4 at intervals of about six to eight inches, the studs 18 are spaced apart by about two or three feet. By providing such a large number of equally spaced detents, the spacing of the studs may be easily varied to suit requirements.

As will be understood, the length of the legs of the U- shaped members 44 in the top runner 1@ is greater than those in the bottom runner 14. rThis is done in order to accommodate differences in the height of the ceiling. That is, since the wire strands 46 and 48 depend downwardly from the ceiling by a substantial amount, they will nevertheless support the studs even though those studs be substantially shorter than the height of the room in which they are used.

With reference to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the top and bottom runners It? and 14, respectively, may be secured to the ceiling 12 and oor 16 by means of staples 52, however any other suitable fastening means may be used to suit requirements. Preferably, the staples straddle the U-shaped members 44 and 3h and are positioned at opposite sides of the channels to prevent transverse shifting movement thereof. After the channels lt! and 14 are secured to the ceiling and floor and the studs 1S snapped into place, lath 54 (FIG. 4) or any othersuitable wallboard material may be secured to the edges of the studs by means of clips such as those shown in US. Patent No. 2,296,609, issued September 22, 1942. In the usual case the lath will be secured to the studs and thereafter plaster or plasterboard applied over the lath in accordance with conventional building practice. At the top and bottom of the lath 54 are L-shaped clips 56 and 58 (FIG. 4) which are driven under the channels and 14 to securely hold the edges of the lath in place.

With reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, it will be noted that the lower wire strands 26 and 28 of channels 10 and 14 may extend along a straight line path as shown in FIG. 6 and simply rest on the tops of the transverse web portions of the U-shaped wire members Sil as shown in FIG. 6; or,

alternatively, they may have detents 60 (FIG. 7) formed therein such that the detents will t over the transverse web portions of the U-shaped wire members to enable the strands 26 and 28 to lie flush against the oor or ceiling, as the case may be. In cases where exceptionally good support must be given to the top and bottom edges of the lath, the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 is preferable since 4 the clips S6 and 5S shown in FIG. 4 will be better secured beneath the strands 26 and 28 whenthey lie flush against the iloor or ceiling than in the case of the embodiment of FIG. 6 where they lie in a plane removed from the lioor or ceiling.

Referring now to FIG. 8, another embodiment of the i invention is shown in which the runner again comprises lower wire strands 62 and 64 secured to the inside corners of spaced U-shaped wire members 66. The upper wire strands 68 and 7G which are secured to the free ends of the wire members 65, however, are formed such that every other detent 72, for example, will be oset with respect to the remaining detents 74. Furthermore, each set of cooperating detents 72 or 74 along the length of the runner will be oifset with respect to the longitudinal center line of the runner in the same direction, the result being that the successive sockets formed by the detents 72 and 74 will be olfset as well as the studs 18 carried thereby. Int his manner, the one wallboard 76 may be carried by the studs in detents 74 while the other wallboard 78 may be carried by the studs in detents 72. Under these circumstances, the wallboard 76, for example, will not touch those studs carried within detents 72; and the wallboard 78 will not touch those studs carried in the detents 74. Thus, the wallboards 76 and 78 are completely separated one from the other, thereby providing exceptionally good sound insulating characteristics.

Although the invention has been shown in connection with certain specific embodiments, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in form and arrangement of parts may be made to suit requirements Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim as our invention:

l. A runner for supporting metallic studs between building members comprising a pair of parallel metallic strands each having generally U-shaped detents therein to form notches with open ends facing inwardly toward the longitudinal center line of the runner, and means for securing said metallic strands to a building member such that each detent in one wire strand will be directly opposite a cooperating detent in the other Wire strand to form a socket for the reception of an end of a metallic stud, said latter-mentioned means comprising a plurality of U-shaped wire members spaced along the length of the runner and having their free ends Welded to the respective wire strands and their transverse web portions adapted to be secured to a building member.

2. A runner for supporting metallic studs between building members comprising a pair of parallel metallic strands each having generally U-shaped detents therein to form notches with open ends facing inwardly toward the longitudinal center line of the runner, means for securing said metallic strands to a building member such that each detent in one Wire strand will be directly opposite a cooperating detent in the other wire strand to form a socket for the reception of an end of a metallic stud, said latter-mentioned means comprising a plurality of U-shaped Wire members spaced along the length of the runner and having their free ends welded to the respective strands and their transverse web portions adapted to be secured to a building member, and a second pair of Wire strands welded to the U-shaped wire members below the iirst-mentioned pair of wire strands.

3. The combination claimed in claim 2 wherein the second pair of parallel wire strands are Welded to the U-shaped wire members at the juncture of the free ends of each U-shaped wire member with its transverse web portion.

4. The combination claimed in claim 2 wherein the second pair of parallel wire members have detents formed therein which fit over andare Welded to the transverse web portions of each U-shaped Wire member whereby the second pair oi' Wire strands between successive U- shaped wire members will lie tlush against a building member to which the runner is secured.

5. ln a partition structure adapted to be connected to tive parallel strands and their transverse web portions secured to a building member, a metallic stud having a width greater than the distance between the metallic strands, and legs on the stud adapted to snap into the building members, a runner comprising a pair of paral- 5 notches and lock the stud in position along said runner.

lel wire metallic strands each having generally U-shaped detents therein to form notches with open ends facing inwardly toward the longitudinal center line of the runner, means for securing said metallic Wire strands to a building member such that each detent in one Wire strand will be directly opposite a cooperating detent in the other wire strand, said means comprising a plurality of U- shaped Wire members spaced along the length of the runner and having their free ends Welded to the respec- References Cited in the lile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,105,771 Holdsworth Jan. 18, 1938 2,218,426 Hurlbert Oct. 15, 1940 2,289,989 Page July 14, 1942 2,529,826 Walker Nov. 14, 1950 2,821,274 Olsen Ian. 28, 1958 2,903,753 Nelsson Sept. 15, 1959 

1. A RUNNER FOR SUPPORTING METALLIC STUDS BETWEEN BUILDING MEMBERS COMPRISING A PAIR OF PARALLEL METALLIC STRANDS EACH HAVING GENERALLY U-SHAPED DETENTS THEREIN TO FORM NOTCHES WITH OPEN ENDS FACING INWARDLY TOWARD THE LONGITUDINAL CENTER LINE OF THE RUNNER, AND MEANS FOR SECURING SAID METALLIC STRANDS TO A BUILDING MEMBER SUCH THAT EACH DETENT IN ONE WIRE STRAND WILL BE DIRECTLY OPPOSITE A COOPERATING DETENT IN THE OTHER WIRE STRAND TO FORM A SOCKET FOR THE RECEPTION OF AN END OF A METALLIC STUD, SAID LATTER-MENTIONED MEANS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF U-SHAPED WIRE MEMBERS SPACED ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE RUNNER AND HAVING THEIR FREE ENDS WELDED 